The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1887-01-08
Correspondence baltimore County Uni,
A FIRST VISIT TO EUROPE.
PAPER No. 10.

We chose the night express TO save time, anu
travelled first class in the hope Of comfortable ac
commodatons. What was our dismay to find that
there was not o sleeper not even chair car on
the train and that were obliged to sit bolt up
right the night through in compartment with
every seat filled and with every foot of available
space packed with hand luggage. The European,
obliged to put stable luggage into the baggage
car and then look after it himself-there being no
checking system-has learned to divide his bag
gage into numerous small packages and carry
them with him into the compartment, thus saving
time and concern to himself but not, it is needless
to say, contributing to the comfort of his fellow
travellers.
We were determined not to fall madly in love
with Paris, after the fashion of SO many OF our
compatriots, and truly arrival in the cold grey
of the morning at the barren looking Care de Lyon
was not calculated to progresses us in its favor;
but it was not long before were won in spite OF
ourselves by its beautiful regularity, its marvel
GUS cleanliness, its magnificent buildings, its
charming gardens and its wonderful municipal
management. There was doubtless much force,
however in the remark of friend in answer to
our citations upon these surface virtues: "Ah, but
YOU don't see behind the scenes" The French
are people who believe in keeping the outside OF
the cup and platter clean, and if necessary keep
ing the inside from view. And what a nation OF
boosters they are! They brag in talk and in print,
in painting and in sculpture, in mausoeum ana
swooping down upon her covering and untortu-
nate enemies Not even the Franco -Prussian war
served to still their wing Tapping or silence their
growing. And what spirit was that In the Ter
mans, which prompted them during temporary
occupancy of Versailles to cover from injury the
very pictures that boasted of victories over them
selves as contrasted with the spirit of the French
in their desolating vandalizing sweep of the Rhine
| Versailles is great stiff pile of enormous size
with grounds to match its cold, unovely grandeur
The walls of the huge, bare apartments covered
with of paintings, representing French VIC
| tories by land and sea. No American can fail to
| be amused-if he is not moved by strange feel
| ing-over one Of these pictures which represents
Count Rocham beau and Washington planning the
| battle of Yorktown with Rochambeau, gorgeous
| in battle trumpery, in the foreground, and with
Washn gton so poorly portraitured as to be scarce
ly recognizable standing meekly behind as if quite
| overpowered by the mere presence of this august
winner of battles, whom every reader of history
knows to have played very minor part In the
| affair.
| There is something touching in the words
| "Pefites appartenents de La Refine" over the en- :
| trance to what were the private rooms of Marie
| Antoniette in this great barn of palace Little
| apartments they truly are-toy rooms compared
| with the surrounding halls and sal0ns-and their
| gorgeous hangings of blue in one, yellow in an
other and red in a third bright hued still while
| nearly a century has passed over the silent dust
of the unfortunate queen for whom they were
adorned.
In attempting to write about Paris we have the
same paralyzing of inability that We felt in
attempting to see it, and we are obliged to do as
we did then, skip everything but few of the most
prominent points.
The Cathedral of ST. Denis is interesting for its
antiquity, its sculptured tombs, its wonderful
crypt, but as we were rushed through it by chat
| tering French guide at breakneck pace, we de-
rived little satisfaction from the visit.
The Music de Cluny--part of the building ia
a portion of the old Cluny Monastery intact-con-
tains the finest collection of antiquities in Europe
beside every sort of curiosity from the slipper OF
| Marie Antoinette to the state coach of Louis LIE
| Grand We never examined any of the wonder
full collections of Paris, however, without realizing
| what robbers as well as braggarts the French are,
without remembering how one after another of the
cities of Europe was stripped of its treasures Of!
antiquity and art by that giant bandit, Napoleon,
| to add as the inscription on the Pontheon has it,
| "to all of the glories of France. No wonder the
| French adored Napoleon. He was the individual
| embodiment of oil their national propensities.-
His mausoleum, in the rear of the Hotel des lnva-
lides, is an appropriate tribute from such nation
| to such hero.
| In circular crypt, under lofty marble rotun-
d. lighted by tall windows of yellow glass, through
| which the suns rays send a dazzling glory OF
| golden light, stands huge sarcophagus of red
granite, polished to briancy, upon floor OF dull
| black marble. Surrounding the sarcophagus are
| twelve caryatides keeping solemn vigil, and sup
porting upon their heads the balustrade which en-
circles the crypt. Upon the floor, in lines radia-
| ting from the tomb as a centre, are painted IN
Illuminated letters the victories of this idol OF the
| French people. "What sensation it would
create" whispered friend to US, as we stood
gazing upon this epitaphio glory, "if wag could
succeed in painting upon the top of that sarcopha-
| NH; fha yvOr fWatprlOO.'
| With emilia we replied "the French, like Beau
| Brummel, ignore their failures.
| Among the churches Notre Dame is impressive
| though hybrid in architecture; st. Sulpice is odd
beyond description and LIE Madelaine' nooly dreek
| without -charmingly modern within. We attended
! n service in the last named in which the voices OF
the choristers coming down to us from an eleva-
| ton. sounded like the voices of angels, and dur
| ing which youthful white robed priest discours-
| ed most tenderly upon l. Amour de Dieu in the
finest softest French we had ever heard.
We also found time for service in the Greek
chanel, small structure Mosque-like without, ex-
| ouisitely adorned within. There were no seats
| the Greek Catholic stands in the house OF God
| and there was no organ; but We learned OF what
| human voices are capable as we listened to the
| chorals-worthy of Bach himself as compositions
rendered by concealed choir, with dignity
| and impressveness we have never known equalled.
There was that in the service that suggested re-
| SN~-~
| was truly Eastern manifestation OF devoutness
on the part of the faithful in the profound and re
peated genufections almost prostrations, with the
head sometimes touching the very floor in the ire
auent, rapid and multiplied sgnings of the cross,
in the pressing forward to kiss the crucifx at the
| close.
| The Jardin des Plantes is disappointing as q
botanical collection, the Government garden at
| Washington being much finer. The Jardin des
Tulleries with its parterres and statues, is almost
| as stiff as the grounds of Versailles. The Champs
| Elysees with their booths and wine tents, do not
suggest Eysian fields, and the Bots de Bouiogne
is "bois" truly, the roads being cut through the
heart Of an a%Gs lungs San and
! weH to conserve them. The Gobelin tapestries
are maryes of that sort of art, the modern speci-
mems almost surprising the antique in the won
derful cooring and exquisite perfection of detail
but they must be seen to be appreciated.
The Grand Opera House-in which we saw
L. Africane, with a superb ballet-is magnificent
| without and has probably the finest foyer and COR
ridors in the world, but its auditorium, for size
and seating commodiousness, does not compare
with our best American houses.
But it was in the Louvre that we spent our days
and then felt that weeks and months and years
would not suffice us for the contemplation of its
| glorious contents. In the Sale Carre-the treas
ure chamber of the whole-we sat us down to revel
| in the flesh tints of Titan, to be moved by the
tenderness of Andrea del Sarto, to be stirred by
| the power of Guido REM, to be set into dream
of ecstasy by the heavenly coloring of Truirello,
to be almost over powered by the union of all of
these il Rafaelle. Again and again we came
never tired, never satisfied, and here left the
heart of interest in Paris as we departed from
the gay capital. M. A. G..
Medical View Of Gen. Logan's Death.
DR.. George F. Shrady, editor of the Medical
Record, in the issue of January LIST, says: "The
case of the late General Logan appears to be one